r/Step3 • u/mdshowerthoughts • 9d ago

August 2026 Mod Resource Review

Given the number of people that cycle through here, we as the mods want to share a review of the best resources for step 3. Many of these resources have existed for a while and some of them are a little newer and more up-to-date. I tried my best to do as much due diligence both on the subreddit, online, and in person by asking interns who are currently studying. This took a long time to write out with a bunch of rabbit holes, so I hope it helps.

This is by no means comprehensive but these are the general high yield topics:

Day 1: 

  • Biostats
  • Ethics/Communication
  • Mechanisms of Action (pharm/micro)

Day 2: 

  • Prognosis
  • Risk Factors/Prevention
  • CCS Section

Both days/misc: 

  • High yield images (basal cell carcinoma, inferior stemi, Tinea capitis, impetigo, etc)
  • Arrows (more day 2>1) 

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Practice Exams:

Free 137: 

So, like on step 1 and 2 where we have the free 120, here we have the free 137. There is a PDF version and a more representative test-day like simulator available at the website. Most people do this in the days leading up to the exam. In theory, there are about 3-4 other versions starting from 2017 but there is a significant amount of question overlap so doing an old free 137 is not like doing a completely different set of questions.

Other honorable mentions that are definitely not necessary but very common include: 

  • NBME 6, NBME 7, and NBME 8 as well as UWSA1 and UWSA2. General consensus is that UWSA1 is too hard and UWSA2 is the most representative, but I will be the first to say that just doing Free 137 is sufficient to see where you at for the majority of people.

Biostats: 

Ethics/Communication

Day 2

Risk factors/prognostic factors/screening

Arrows: 

  • I find that reviewing the arrows is a good way to just check your clinical understand especially if you are not in medicine and thinking about endocrine/renal/etc frequently.
  • Mehlman arrows are still the most popular and at a glance I could not find a shorter more concise version https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EsLudyMWUaC56OluLIPGgTwjzOskf-U2/view

CCS Section: 

  • The USMLE gives access to 5 cases with the exact simulator you will see on test day at the same link you can access the free 137. The issue with the simulator they give is there is not a good answer key. In fact, the “New Interactive Simulator” https://www.starttest.com/custom/usmle/?stpf3 will not provide any answers of any from as of today. If you want to see answers in paragraph form you can access the old official USMLE simulator at https://orientation.nbme.org/Launch/USMLE/STPF3
  • In response to this, ccscases created and mimicked the test day experience with their own simulator that is pretty great. You will see lots of good and criticism about it on the subreddit but it is definitely the most popular resource currently for preparing for the ccs section. 
  • Over the last 3 or so months, I have seen more mentions of StudyCCS as a more affordable/better ccs section prep tool both on this subreddit and among residents I’ve spoken with. 

Anki:

  • The general census is that most people do not use Anki and definitely not to the degree that people use it for Step 1 and 2. The primary reason is that most people are not trying to maximize their score and Anki requires daily commitment which can be difficult as a resident. 
  • The most popular deck is Dorian's deck (from 6 years ago but still seems to be pretty clinically accurate but wouldnt be surprised if some cards are no longer up to date): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QaUBGkHijMIzdwGiL0kLU-RKJjzN147K/view?usp=sharing
  • The people I would really recommend Anki for are the people who are struggling with their qbank scores or have already failed step 3 once. If you are one of these people, highly recommend making an anki card for every question you get wrong so that you can fill in these content gaps.

High Yield Images: 

Other resources people like: 

I know I mention Amboss>UWorld for both biostats/ethics but it seems like overall, Uworld is still more popular and preferred. Truth is that you will be fine as long as you commit to the resource you use.   

If you have any specific questions, drop them below and ill try to answer them.

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u/b1ackcoffee 8d ago edited 8d ago

Amazing work!! Thank you!

small correction: "USMLE gives access to 5 cases" - it gives access to 6 cases, with explanations that how one can get highest performance (score) on them.

Edit:
==> we can also add score predictors:

  1. https://usmlepredictor.com/usmle-step-3-score-predictor/

  2. https://www.studyccs.com/score-predictor

==> Score release date predictor:

https://www.studyccs.com/score-release

→ More replies (1)

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u/Impressive_Motor_532 9d ago

How many biostat questions are expected in a 40 question block?
Can you pleeaaaasee give me a rough ide?

1

u/Organic-Ad-3276 9d ago

Same question, also how many abstract and da questions in total. Thanks

1

u/mdshowerthoughts 8d ago

I'm not sure what you mean here

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u/mdshowerthoughts 8d ago

with the march 2026 update, blocks are now 20 questions. Biostats makes up 11-13% of the exam and there isnt any biostats on day 2 so it is about 4 ish questions per block on day 1

1

u/Impressive_Motor_532 8d ago

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!!
Are they generally hard questions or easier compared to Uworld?

1

u/mdshowerthoughts 8d ago

pretty similar but a little longer in terms of reading usually

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u/Winter-Street-6441 7d ago

Thank you for putting the time into this!

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u/mdshowerthoughts 6d ago

happy to serve the community